James white



' 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. J. WHITE.

SAFE

(No Model.)

Patented Mar. 3, 1891.

, awa

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

J., WHITE.

(No' Model.)

SAFE.

Patented Mar. 3, 1891.

IIIIIII II Inventor NITED STATES ATENT FFICE.

JAMES VHITE, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE NATIONAL SAFE AND LOCK COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

SAFE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 447,709, dated March 3, 1891.

Application filed December 8, 1886- Serial No. 221,008. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMES W'HITE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safes, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to improvements in l safes, especially those which are constructed with devices intended to prevent the safes from being opened by burglars.

The object of the present invention is to morefullysecure safe-doors from beingopened by the use of explosives or wedges.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a burglarproof safe-door having my improvements applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a side view of a part .of the safe. Fig. Sis a vertical section of the i 9' door and part of the safe, the door being shown partly open. Fig. 4 is a similar view when the door is closed. Figs. 5 to 12 show details of various parts, Figs. 11 and 12 being detached views, enlarged, showing some of the 5 parts in different positions.

In the drawings, A represents the front corner frame or angle around the door, it being preferably formed of chrome steel welded solid at the corners and about one inch thick.

3 It is formed with a rabbet at a around the inwner edge. Inside of this part A there is a series of plates A A A A, A A, and A each one'of the series overlapping somewhat that one which is outside of it. The first of these inner plates A terminates with a square edge, as shown at a. The second plate A has a somewhat inclined or beveled edge at a The third A is formed with a rib or flange a and projects somewhat beyond,

4 as at a. The fourth, fifth, and sixth plates also terminate in edges which are square or slightly beveled. The seventh plate A is formed with a rib a at its inner edge projecting outward somewhat, so as to leave a space between the rib and the edge of the next outer plate A.

B represents the door. It is formed of plates corresponding,respectively, atthe edges in shape to the above-described plates around the door-that is to say,.the outer plate I) is rabbeted, the second plate is provided with a rib or tonguec a short distance in from the edge adapted to fit outsideof the tongue a there being a space between tongue 0 and the edge of the next plate adapted to receive said tongue a The plates 5 Z1 are formed with square edges; but the plate 12 has a tongue 0 at its edge adapted to fit outside of the tongue on plate A cl represents a strip of felt or rubber inserted into a groove formed in the wall of the rabbet a in plate A, and its outer edge is,when the door is closed, received in a V-shaped groove (1 in the door-plate b. Packings of felt, rubber, or other suitable material may be applied at various parts of the jointsbetween the door and the surrounding plates. When the parts are thus constructed, andif the door be forced into its place sufficiently tightly it is practically impossible either to introduce explo- 7o sives or to wedge the door open, as the parts are so interlocked that the door cannot be sprung or caused to move relatively to its surrounding walls by wedges.

At h h I provide cushions of rubber or other suitable packing for the striking-bar, the object of these cushions or packings be; ing to receive the recoil or rebound of the door when dynamite or other violent explosive is employed for the purpose of bursting 8o thedoor open. It will be seen from Figs. 3 and 4 that, these packings or cushions are inter posed between the bolts and the striking-bar in front of the bolts. It is this recoil or rebound which breaks the bolt mechanism when 8 5 such explosives are applied, and by overcoming it I obviate the liability of having the door opened by their use.

The door. is mounted upon two sets of hinges, those of one set being indicated at C 9 C and those of the other at D D. The hinges D D are attached to the corner-frame A and to the horizontal bars D. These latter extend to about the central vertical line of the door, and there carry the hinges C C, the upper parts of which hinges are secured'to the central lines of the door.

E is a vertical bar connecting the horizontle, it also being adapted to have a wrench ial bars D If), and at its ends provided with expanded plates 6 6, whereby a wider base of support is furnished for the bars D D.

Between the upper part 0 and the lower part C of each of the inner hinges there is placed a collar (1*, which is threaded and adapted to engage with threads upon the pinapplied thereto. \Yhen, as a result of wear or from other cause, the door requires vertical adjustment, it can be effected by turning these collars C and after adjustment they can be secured by means of set-screws, as at (3 For the purpose of applying great power to force the door into its place, notwithstanding the use of the felt or rubber or other packing, I employ the following devices:

G H represent two shafts orbars connected by a link I and cranks J J, the cranks being formed with and secured rigidly to the shafts and being connected by pivots to the link I. One of the cranks J has an extension 0, with a socket adapted to receive a detachable handle N. "When the handle is in place, it can be used to cause the shafts G and II to rock simultaneously. Each shaft is at its end mounted in a box M, bolted to the outer face of the door, and outside of each box there is a disk or head K, rigidly fastened to the shaft, and with which there is cast integrally a cam L.

P P represent boxes bolted to the part A of the safe and provided with abntments, each being situated directly opposite one of the ends of the shafts. \Vith these, or with devices carried thereby, the camsL are adapted to engage. In order to have the engaging parts adjustable, I provide each box P with a toe-piece S, adapted to swing to a limited extent, and combine with it an adj ustiug-screw T, by which the point of engagement can be thrown forward or back, as required. \Vhen the door is to be closed, the lever is raised to its highest point, which rocks the shafts G and II, so as to bring the cams L into a horizontal position, after which they can pass through notches in the boxes P P and behind the toe-pieces S. Then the lever is forced downward, and as the cams engage with the toe-pieces or abutments the effect is to force the door inward. The cams L L are formed with such radii that a comparatively small amount of power exerted on the end of the handle of the lever J results in an exceedingly powerful pressure against the door. After this has been brought into place, the bolts are thrown into the lockin g position and the door is secure against any attempts to open it until the locking-bolts are properly withdrawn.

By use of lever N the door can be forced outward by the cams, so that it is ready to be opened, as is shown in Fig. 53.

By an examination of the drawings, parthat during the downward movement of the lever N the engagementof the cams with the toe-pieces is first near the ends of the cams, but as the door is being forced inward such engagement is effected at points nearer the heel ends of the cams, so that the leverage is greatly increased, such mode of operation being the reverse of that which would result from the employment of crank-pins mounted on the shafts G H under such an arrangement, that they (the crank-pins) are in the horizontal planes of the axes of the shafts "when passing through the notches of the boxes B, being afterward moved from such horizontal planes to positions either above or below the axes of the shafts as the door is being forced inward. Again, the employment of two such shafts G and II, connected with each other, so as to be operated simultaneously, is preferable to the use of a single shaft of similar character mounted centrally of the door, because it sometimes occurs that by reason of a slight sagging of the door or some imperfection in workmanship the door will bind at some point above or below its horizontal center, in which event, particularly with closely-fitting tongues an d grooves, it is advantageous to push the door in bodily by the use of two shafts instead of one, be-

cause there is thereby saved a great deal of 9 5 cramping of parts and undesirable strain upon its hinges and other supporting and operatin g parts, this being particularly the case when, as in this instance, the two cam-shafts are located as close as they conveniently can be to the hinges, it being shown in Fig. 1 that these shafts are located in near proximity to the pintles of the hinges O O.

The lock is applied at the inside of the door-jamb, leaving the door imperforate. The arbor is inserted into the j amb, and if it should be broken off (even at the surface of the j amb) there would be exposed butasmall surface to be acted upon by dynamite or burglars tools.

For the purpose of securing the hinges or any of the other ouside attachments, I use conical bolts with a square shank, such as shown in the drawings. They are made of seven-ply chrome-steel twisted while hot, and afterbeing tempered they cannot be attacked by drills. The square shank of each fits into a corresponding aperture in one of the inner plates, so that the bolt cannot turn, nor can it be driven in, because of the opposing inner plates, nor pulled out, because of the conical shape of the shank.

\Vhat I claim is- 1. In a safe, the combination, with the door, the jamb, and the bolts, of the cushions interposed between the bolts and the jamb to receive the recoil of the bolts, substantially as set forth.

2. In a safe, the combination, with the door,

ticularly Figs. 7, 11, and 12, it will be seen of its casing, a rocking shaft having cams at its ends and arranged across the door, and pieces, and means for adjusting the toethe boxes P, provided with adjustable abutpieces, substantially as set fort-h. ments, substantially as set forth. In testimony whereof Iaffix my signature in 3. In a safe, the eombinati0n,with the door presence of two Witnesses and its easing, of a rocking shaft arranged JAMES \VHITE. across the door and provided With cams upon Witnesses: its ends, and the boxes P at the ends of the J. B. FAY, shafts and provided with the swinging toe- ED. 0. GLASER. 

